Archives for November 2017

Last year my grandson introduced me to browned butter chocolate chip cookies. They were fabulous and I have wanted to try using browned butter in another cookie recipe ever since. I thought that the flavor of the browned butter would be a good compliment to toasted pecans. I was right! The cookies are to die for!! I forgot to take a picture of them before I iced them but you can see that they bake up just as perfect as my regular sugar cookie recipe. All of the different sugar cookies that I have experimented with have all started with my mother in laws sugar cookie recipe. I think she would love the fact that so many people have been enjoying her recipe as much as the family does.

I have included a link to directions for how to brown the butter if you are not familiar with the technique. It’s very simple and your kitchen will smell heavenly while doing it.

1 Cup (8 ounces) browned butter, slightly softened* (It will take approximately twice as much butter to make 1 Cup of browned butter)

1 1/2 Cups (315 grams) granulated sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla

4 1/4 Cups (522 grams) flour **

1 cup toasted pecans finely ground.

Instructions

Brown the butter, cool it until it comes together and is no longer liquid. Browning the butter is optional. It adds a layer of flavor that is unlike anything else but the cookies are very good using regular butter.

Mix butter and granulated sugar until thoroughly blended. You don’t need to “cream” your butter and sugar. The more you mix your dough at each stage the more your cookies will spread while being baked. Add eggs and extracts. Mix well. Add flour and pecans. Mix until just combined. Do not over mix your dough. Separate the dough into 2 or 3 balls, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. The dough can also be frozen at this point. Defrost it in the refrigerator. The dough will keep for a few days, in the refrigerator.

Take one piece of dough out and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes. The dough will be very hard, but it softens quickly. Working with one section of dough at a time, roll the dough on a floured surface, to about 1/4″ thickness, and cut into desired shapes. Less is more when it comes to flouring your pastry cloth. The more flour you incorporate into the rolled dough, the tougher your cookies will be.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are slightly brown on the bottom. All ovens are different so keep an eye on your cookies the first time you make them to determine the best time for your oven.

**This dough is stickier than some recipes. I roll my cookies out on a pastry cloth with flour so this recipe allows for some added flour from the rolling process. If you do not use flour to roll your cookies you may add an additional 1/4 cup of flour to the recipe.